


Attaboy

by huangyuta



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 94 95 96 line are all around the same age, Alternate Universe - College/University, Doyoung is dense, Doyoung-centric, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, M/M, Mostly Fluff, but playful!, they're both fools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 04:09:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15331407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huangyuta/pseuds/huangyuta
Summary: Karma had one last kiss for Doyoung left. It was his choice whether he used it for good or bad.





	Attaboy

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language so I apologise for any grammar or spelling errors.  
> Also this story takes place during their first year of college. I only start my first year at college in a few weeks so I apologise for any inaccuracies. I based their college course and assignments on the research I did for my own future course and based a lot of things on my expierence during practice and orientation days I went to. That was all I hope you enjoy reading!

Doyoung looked up when he noticed someone, someone being multiple, sit across from him in the almost deserted college cafeteria. He was met with the friendly and familiar faces of his two best friends, Johnny and Taeyong. He smiled at them, relieved to have some company finally. He had an eight AM class earlier and the next one started in two hours. He had plenty of time to kill and rather with his friends than alone. He was about to wish them a good morning when someone else entered the room. To say his mood plummeted would be an understatement. It didn’t really, but Doyoung liked to exaggerate. Doyoung narrowed his eyes at the familiar brunette. Taeyong looked confused at him according to the view he had on him from the corner of his eye. Probably due to Doyoung’s sudden change in mood. Taeyong’s pink hair fell into his eyes as he followed his line of sight. When he noticed what or rather who Doyoung was glaring at, his mouth fell into a knowing smirk. 

“Look who just walked in.” He started. 

“Don’t.” Doyoung warned him. But it was too late, Johnny followed Taeyong’s example and soon all three of them were looking at the same person. 

“Ah, if it isn’t Yuta.” Johnny began. “What do you think, Taeyong? Should we invite him to sit with us?” He smirked, but Doyoung ignored him he was still busy burning holes into the Japanese boy’s head. 

“Oh! I don’t think we have to, he is looking this way.” Taeyong stuck his arm in the air, gaining the other's attention and Doyoung wanted the ground to swallow him whole. “Just wait for it…. Wait for it. Ah! There it is.” He exclaimed as Doyoung locked eyes with his sworn enemy. The latter glared at him immediately. His eyes softened a bit when they fell on Johnny and Taeyong and he offered them a small smile. Yuta gave Doyoung one last distasteful look before stomping off to the other side of the room. 

“Did you see that, Taeyong?” Johnny asked in a teasing manner, Doyoung already knew what was coming. 

“Did you mean that hot sexual tension? Couldn’t miss it.” Taeyong fake gasped. 

“I need new friends.” Doyoung rolled his eyes, this happened way too often. As if on cue another person joined their table.

“What’s up hoes?” Taeil asked as he dropped his bag on the table, almost crushing one of Johnny’s hands in the progress. Taeyong and Johnny replied with cheery ‘good morning’s. Their cheerfulness only worsened Doyoung’s mood, so he grumbled something along the lines of ‘shut up’. “Damn, who pissed in your cereal this morning?” Taeil looked taken aback. 

“Don’t mind him, he just had an encounter with Yuta. He’s probably gonna be grumpy all morning.” Johnny said as he got a textbook from his own bag and handed it to Taeil. “Thank you for lending me your book by the way.” Taeil thanked him before returning his attention to Doyoung. 

“I still don’t understand why you hate him so much. He’s nice.” Taeyong tried to warn him, but it was too late. Doyoung’s eyes darkened at those last few words. 

“It all started when-”

(Doyoung threw the classroom door open without care on an early monday morning. It almost hit his professor, but luckily he was talking to another student and didn’t notice a thing. He couldn’t deal with an angry professor this morning, his day had been ruined already. A scolding would only make it worse. Doyoung was currently soaked to the bone, he got caught in the late summer storm that was blazing outside. He knew his first week of college had gone suspiciously well. It was the second week that was going to be messy. Doyoung could almost hear Taeyong’s younger brother whisper ‘karma’ in his mind. He should’ve let the boy do a tarot reading for him when he kept insisting, the younger boy said he would get his payback. Doyoung shook his head as if that would clear his mind of his thoughts and he moved towards the seat he had been occupying for the entire week before. To his incredible luck, someone was sitting in his seat. Great, just great. ‘You’re playing with me, aren’t you?’ Doyoung thought as he looked at the ceiling. He didn’t know who he was talking to he didn’t believe in a god, but someone had to be playing with him. He hadn’t seen the student in any other classes before, however the sight of him pissed him off. Doyoung threw his bag on the table in front of the student rather rudely. 

“E-excuse me?” He started. His voice was laced with an accent that revealed he could be no one other than the Japanese exchange student that started today. Great, now Doyoung had ruined the foreign student’s first day. To be honest, he was too grumpy to care.

“That’s my seat.” Doyoung grumbled. 

“This is college, there are no assigned seats.” The Japanese boy said innocently. Upon closer inspection he was rather handsome, his purplish hair a strange but pretty contrast to his deep brown eyes. His cheeks were flushed and he looked almost embarrassed. Doyoung had clearly flustered him. 

“Listen, I have had a shit morning and you’re only making it worse.” Doyoung ran a hand through his drenched black hair. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Great, now get out.” Doyoung was determined to get his seat back. 

“Why? I don’t know what I did wrong.” The purple haired boy said confused.

“This is the best spot in the entire room and I have been sitting there since the start of college. People have been avoiding this spot, because I basically claimed it.” 

“College literally started last week.” The innocent eyes and flushed cheeks were replaced with a cold stare and an angry set jaw.  
“Your point is?” Doyoung spat. His voice may have been a bit too loud, because he gained the attention of people around them. Before the other could respond, their professor interrupted them.

“Mr Kim leave mr Nakamoto alone and take a seat, class is starting.” She chastised. ‘Nakamoto’ frowned at him as Doyoung made his way to the other side of the room, far away from the new student. He sat behind a guy with short black hair and he sighed when he noticed how tall he was. He blocked Doyoung’s view completely. Now he was stuck in a spot where he couldn’t see the board or the presentation his professor had put on. As if his day couldn’t get any worse.)

“That is all?” Taeil asked ridiculed. 

“Sadly no.” Johnny sighed. Although Doyoung knew he was enjoying this way too much.

“Listen, I was going to apologise to him. The week after I realised I had been a dick and wanted to say sorry.” Doyoung began, Taeil gestured for him to go on. “But the asshole had to ruin everything by making me spill my tray with eppendorf tubes on purpose during a practical.” 

“Poor boy only made you drop your eppies.” Taeyong said.

“I was just done preparing my dilution series and adding the reagents. I only had to put the liquids in cuvettes and then put them in the laboratory water bath.”

“The protein levels in urine assignment right? That was fun” Taeil pointed out.

“Anyways,” Doyoung frowned, not appreciating the interruption obviously. “I immediately took revenge by sabotaging the spectrofotometer he was going to use and things escalated from there.”

“What he means,” Taeyong started, chewing on an apple piece Doyoung didn’t notice him getting out of his bag earlier. “is that they now give each other their undivided attention.” Taeil looked confused. 

“Basically they keep sabotaging each other and trying to piss each other off, it has been going on for months.” Johnny rolled his eyes as he stole one of Taeyong’s apple pieces. 

“He is my enemy. He is trying to get into my head, but I will take him down.” Doyoung muttered as he also tried to steal Taeyong’s food. He was granted with a smack on his hand and no apple. 

“Okay.” Taeil said, gaining the other three’s attention. He studied Doyoung’s face and seemed to be thinking. He cleared his throat before turning towards Johnny and Taeyong. “I bet you fifty bucks they start dating before the next school year starts.” 

Doyoung would’ve spit out his drink if he was drinking anything he was that shocked. He glared at his friends as they burst out laughing.

“Did you listen to anything I just said?!” He sputtered. But Taeil ignored him, his eyes still focused on a laughing Taeyong and Johnny. 

“I bet it won’t even take until the end of this school year.” Taeyong wheezed out. 

“I’m with Taeyong, it’s gonna happen earlier.” Johnny chuckled. 

“Deal!” Taeil shook both of their hands.

“I am right here!” Doyoung almost screeched. 

“Come on, Doyoung. You know it is going to happen eventually.” Johnny said matter of factly. 

“It is not.” He replied stubbornly. 

“Oh my god. I bet they bicker all the time.” Taeil teased. 

“From all the times I have seen them actually talk instead of glaring at each other, I can assure you they bicker.” Taeyong clarified. 

“Like an old married couple.” Johnny added. 

“I can’t believe you guys.” Doyoung sighed as he got up from the plastic cafeteria chair. 

“Where are you going?” Taeil asked. 

“I’m going to look for new friends.” He started to walk away.

“Hey, Doyoung.” Taeyong said softly, gaining his attention. “You know we’re only joking, right?” At that Doyoung’s eyes softened. Taeyong would never stop worrying.

“Of course, I just need to revise something in the library for my next class.” He smiled at his friends before continuing to make his way out of the cafeteria. 

Once Doyoung had settled down in one of the empty corners of the library, book open in front of him, he still had over an hour left before his next class would start. He wasn’t actually planning on revising anything. Fuck being a good student. He put his head on the table and closed his eyes, his friends’ comments haunting him. 

After a couple of minutes he felt a presence sit down next to him. Doyoung opened one eye and was met with a familiar bright smile. He straightened up before greeting them.

“What are you doing here, Sooyoung?” He usually only talked to her during their joined lab assignments.  
“I saw you sulking and thought I should check up on you.” She smiled. 

“I wasn’t sulking.” 

“You were sulking.” She said pointedly. “Come on, Youngie. Tell me what’s going on.”

“You know about my squabbles with Yuta, right?” Doyoung sighed.

“Everyone knows. What did he do this time?” Sooyoung asked.

“It’s not him, it’s my friends.” Sooyoung looked intrigued. “They keep teasing me and saying we’re gonna end up together. But I don’t understand, all we do is annoy each other.” Doyoung said exasperated. 

“Well, that’s not nice. If you really get on each other’s nerves so much, that would result in a pretty toxic relationship.” Sooyoung said thoughtfully. 

“It’s not like that. We aren’t actually mean or anything to each other. I don’t know how to explain it.” 

“Hmm.” She seemed to think. “You’re both really competitive, so you’re both treating this like a competition. The one who annoys the other the most wins.” Doyoung was amazed that she could read either of them so well. “I think that if you both treat this as a game, I can see where your friends are coming from.” She finished talking.

“Not you too.” Doyoung muttered, already lowering his head towards again. Sooyoung only laughed.

“If you really hate it when people joke about you two in that way you should just say it, I’m sure people will stop if you ask them.” She tucked a lock of long black hair behind her ear. “As for Yuta. If you really want him to stop, just ignore him. The moment the challenge is gone he will stop being annoying and you can both part ways.” Doyoung kept his mouth shut as he put his head on his crossed arms on the table and looked at Sooyoung through his bangs. “Although, I don’t think that’s what you want.” She ruffled Doyoung’s hair before getting up and leaving him alone again. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Doyoung huffed to himself, blowing his bangs from his eyes. He sighed before deciding to revise for his next class anyway. 

\---

Around a week later Doyoung had forgotten about his friend’s bet completely. Until Taeyong brought it up again during their shared immunology class. Taeyong was reading the list with the pairs for the assignment they just received and Doyoung knew something was wrong with it the moment Taeyong started to smirk.

“I am so going to win this bet.” He scowled when Doyoung snatched the piece of paper from his hands to look at it himself. Right at the bottom of the list in a small collum were the names;

Doyoung, Kim  
Yuta, Nakamoto

“Fuck me.” He said as he passed the list to the person sitting next to him. Doyoung should’ve known something bad was going to happen that week. He refused Donghyuck’s tarot reading again and the younger boy had followed him around Taeyong’s house talking about karma and payback the entire weekend. Which led to Doyoung also refusing to watch movies with the both of them and made everything worse. Maybe he should let him do it just once, Doyoung had gotten quite curious about his probably tragic fate.

“I have to text Johnny and Taeil about this.” Taeyong still hadn’t got rid of his smile and Doyoung had the urge to punch him. Taeyong started to type on his phone with incredible speed. Suddenly he had an idea.

“I want in on that bet.” He said confidentially. Taeyong narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. 

“What are you planning?” 

“Nothing, I just bet we’re never getting together.” Doyoung couldn’t see it happening, ever. He could never fall for him. Taeyong started to type on his phone again, even more excited now. 

“Johnny and Taeil can’t believe this is happening, but they agree. Welcome to our bet.” Taeyong smiled at him and stuck his hand out, waiting for Doyoung to shake it. Before he got to shake the pink haired boy’s hand someone interrupted them. Doyoung almost jumped out of his chair when a bag was thrown on his table.

“Jesus Christ!” He shrieked, his hand flew to his chest. 

“Nope, just me.” Yuta deadpanned as he leaned against Doyoung’s table. “What’s the bet about? I’m always down for a game where I can beat Doyoung.”

“N-nothing.” Doyoung stuttered. 

“Anyways,” Taeyong began as he shoved his laptop and textbook into his backpack, “I’ll leave you two alone.” Taeyong winked at them before hurrying off to find his own partner.

“What was that all about?” Yuta’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Doyoung muttered as Yuta took a seat in Taeyong’s chair. “What are you doing here anyway?” 

“We’re partners. Didn’t you read the list that was passed around?”  
“Ugh, don’t remind me. Can’t we ask miss Choi to switch partners.” Doyoung whined.

“Maybe if you’d actually read the papers that school gives you, you would know that miss Choi doesn’t allow partner switching.” Yuta said matter of factly while pointing at the assignment paper sticking out from underneath Yuta’s bag that was still on Doyoung’s table. 

“This is going to be a disaster.” 

“Well, we’re gonna have to make it happen sweetie.” That caught Doyoung of guard.

“Don’t call me sweetie, that’s weird.” He snapped.

“Why not? You prefer baby?” Yuta teased. Doyoung didn’t know why, but he felt the heat rush to his cheeks. He buried his head in Yuta’s bag and let out an annoyed groan. Suddenly the bag was dragged from underneath his head and Doyoung’s face smacked against the table. 

“Ow! That hurt you dick.” Doyoung rubbed his forehead and prayed the table’s impact didn’t leave a mark.

“Want me to kiss it better, honey?” Yuta smirked. Before Doyoung could come up with a snarky reply, the other had thrown his bag over his shoulder already. “I’ll text you about the assignment.” Yuta said before leaving the classroom. 

Doyoung was too flustered to question how Yuta had gotten his number. 

It wasn’t until later that day, almost near midnight, that Yuta texted. Doyoung was brushing his teeth in front of the bathroom mirror checking the red mark the table left on his forehead unfortunately, when his phone buzzed. 

Unknown number:  
Hey dick how are we going to do this assignment?

That could only be one person. Doyoung groaned loudly, his toothbrush almost falling out of his mouth in the progress. Luckily he didn’t have to worry about waking his roommate, he had an apartment all for himself.

Doyoung:  
Yuta I’m guessing

Unknown number:  
No this is your worst nightmare

Doyoung:  
So Yuta

/Doyoung changed unknown number’s contact name to ‘Nakanightmare Yuta’/

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Haha real mature

Doyoung:  
Kiss my ass

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
I only eat ass after the second date sorry babe

Doyoung:  
Stop that

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Stop what? 

Doyoung:  
Calling me babe etc

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
You’d rather be called bitch or slut?

Doyoung:  
yes I’d rather have u punch me too

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
I didn’t know you were a masochist

Doyoung:  
I am not  
Shut the fuck up

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
You’re kinda cute when you get so worked up

Doyoung yelped in surprise and dropped his phone, luckily it landed on the soft bath mat. He quickly spit out his toothpaste and cleaned his mouth before picking his phone up again. He had missed a couple of messages. 

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
I’m just kidding I hate your face  
But seriously we have to make this assignment  
one way or another and we can’t fail

Doyoung:  
Or you just let me do everything and I’ll put your name on it  
That way we won’t have to work together

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
I can’t risk that 

Doyoung:  
You think I would make myself fail too on purpose

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
You would if it would make me mad  
We’re working together

Doyoung:  
Fine but only because I don’t want to disappoint ms Choi  
She likes me

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Too bad I’m her fave student

Doyoung:  
That’s a lie

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
It doesn’t matter anyway just meet me  
at the nearest starbuck at 4 tomorrow

Doyoung:  
I hate the people that go there let’s meet at the library

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
The cafe near school

Doyoung:  
Fine.

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Just you wait I’m gonna be the best partner you’ve ever had  
You’re gonna regret not asking me for help earlier

Doyoung:  
Oh you’re on 

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Anyways see u tomorrow  
Goodnight dream of me xoxo

Doyoung:  
I hope you choke in your sleep

Doyoung made his way out of the bathroom into his bedroom. He let himself fall onto his mattress and sighed. He had to figure out a way to make his parts of the assignment the best, he wasn’t going to let Yuta win. Doyoung was going to make himself indispensable. He set his alarm earlier than usual so he could do some work for the assignment before their meetup. He could already see the defeated look on Yuta’s face when he would notice that Doyoung was ahead of schedule. He quickly turned the lights off and locked his phone. Doyoung went to sleep and unfortunately he did dream of Yuta. 

\---  
The next morning he dropped in a chair next to Johnny in their shared lab safety class and stifled a yawn. He didn’t know why they still had to take that class, everyone passed the safety exam months ago. It was just a little before 11, but he had been up for a while to do some research for the immunology assignment. 

“Why are you so tired? You always sleep in on wednesdays.” Johnny pointed out.

“I woke up early to work on the assignment.” Doyoung regretted those words the moment they left his mouth, because the taller boy started to smirk immediately.

“Speaking of the assignment. How is working with Yuta?” Johnny asked, faking innocence.

“It’s hell. He keeps calling me pet names and it makes me feel weird.” 

“Elaborate on that.”

“I get angry and it makes my face all red.” Doyoung scrunched his nose in annoyance.

“He makes you flustered.” Johnny said triumphantly. 

“He doesn't.” Doyoung snapped. 

“Let me be the judge of that.” He cleared his throat and Doyoung looked at him in confusion. “Baby.” Johnny smirked, clearly satisfied with his near perfect imitation of Yuta’s voice. 

“Shut up.” Doyoung groaned, hiding his face in his hands. He wasn’t going to give Johnny the satisfaction of seeing his flushed face. Sadly the older boy didn’t give up so easy and peeled Doyoung’s hands away from his face.

“Oh my god, you’re blushing.” Johnny laughed.

“Am not!” Doyoung tried to hide his face again, but Johnny had his wrists pinned down on the table. Johnny started to look around and Doyoung feared he was looking for their pink haired friend. As if on cue, Taeyong walked into the room and spotted them immediately. 

“Taeyong! Doyoung is blushing.” Johnny yelled and Doyoung wanted to die. Taeyong quickened his pace at those words and Doyoung started to trash around hoping Johnny would let him go. 

“Please don’t say anything to Taeyong. He will never let me live it down. It’s just the pet names I swear. Nothing else.” He started rambling and Johnny looked at him sympathetically. Before the latter could make any promises, Taeyong dropped in the empty seat next to Doyoung.

“Spill.” Taeyong said. Not even a good morning first, just straight to the point. 

“Uhm,” Johnny started. He met Doyoung’s eyes who gave him a pleading look. “Doyoung gets flustered when you call him pet names.” Doyoung mentally thanked Johnny for not mentioning Yuta. 

“Oh, interesting. I’ll remember that.” Doyoung let out a sigh of relief when Taeyong didn’t ask further. At that moment their professor walked in and all three got their books out of their bags, class was starting.

Later that afternoon Doyoung arrived at the cafe just outside of campus. He was late and it didn’t do well for his mood. He had knocked over a row of erlenmeyers in the lab, he had to clean them up and listen to a lecture from his teacher. He opened the door and was met with the sweet smell of freshly baked muffins immediately. His stomach grumbled in response. Doyoung decided that buying a muffin wouldn’t hurt anyone. He looked around for Yuta first. He found the dark brown haired boy sitting in the corner, his back to Doyoung and the counter. Doyoung made his way over to the barista. 

“Could I have one of those muffins?” He smiled at the boy behind the counter, his nametag read Jungwoo. The barista nodded and went to grab one of the probably still warm muffins. Doyoung turned around and looked at Yuta. He was currently leaning his chin in his hand and looking out of the window. Doyoung sighed, he did make him wait almost twenty minutes. “Wait, could you make that two?” 

After paying for the muffins, Doyoung approached the table his partner was sitting at. He dropped in the chair without saying anything, startling Yuta in the progress. 

“You’re late.” Yuta muttered after recovering from the shock. 

“I had to clean up a mess in the lab. I got you a muffin as an apology.” Doyoung said softly as he pushed one of the muffins towards the other.

“Thank you. I got you coffee. I already drank mine, because I didn’t want it to get cold.” Yuta said as he pushed a cup of latte macchiato across the table. Doyoung kept his comment about Yuta knowing his favourite kind of coffee to himself.

“Oh, thanks.” He took a sip and was surprised to find out that it was still warm. They sat in silence for a moment, not knowing how to act. This was weird. Eventually Yuta cleared his throat and Doyoung met his eyes.

“We should probably go over the assignment first.” He said as he fished the stencil from his bag.

“Not necessary, I started already.” Doyoung got his stack of research papers out of his bag as well. “We need to write an essay about the dangerous sides of using antibiotics to fight bacterial infections since they can get immune to them and the influences this has on hospitals. So I gathered some information about the most common dangerous bacteria in hospitals and how they usually try to fight them.” 

“Why?” Yuta asked suspiciously. 

“Because I’m such a great partner.” Doyoung smirked. Yuta rolled his eyes at him. 

“So, we’re really not going to keep this civil.” 

“You ruined the change to be civil the moment you made me spill my eppies during that one protein lab assignment.” Doyoung bit back. 

“Oh, yeah. The look on your face was so funny.” Yuta laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. “You got your payback though.” 

“What did I do again? Was that the time I changed your molecular biology notes for pictures of David Beckham’s butt?” Doyoung couldn’t recall. 

“No, but that was actually really funny. I had to make kidney preparations, but you changed the kidney matter with liver matter.” Yuta shaked his head almost fondly at the memory. 

“Oh yeah! Honestly, you should’ve noticed the difference between kidney matter and liver matter immediately. That’s on you.” 

“Ugh, I know. That actually helped me a lot.” Doyoung’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect that at all.

“What do you mean?” 

“It made me realise I didn’t know enough about the differences between matters. So I asked for tutoring and it helped me lot during studying.” Yuta admitted shyly.

“Dammit, that wasn’t my intention.” Doyoung joked. Yuta looked offended for a moment, but joined Doyoung’s laughter quickly. “Shall we get started, I have to proof that I’m the better student.”

“Oh you’re on, Kim!” Yuta growled, although there was no maliciousness behind the words.

\---  
A couple of days later Doyoung was being dragged into the cafeteria by his favourite small pink haired friend. However, they stopped when they noticed that their friends weren’t sitting at their usual table. Johnny and Taeil were seated at a table in the back of the break room. They were talking to two guys Doyoung recognized as Kun and Ten, Yuta’s friends.

“Oh, no.” Doyoung said pointedly as he started to turn around, but Taeyong grabbed his arm. 

“If you go sit with us, you’ll look like the better person.” Doyoung didn’t really care about looking like a better person, but he did love to beat Yuta. He could already see his defeated face. 

“Fine.” Taeyong cheered in victory as he pulled Doyoung with him to the other side of the cafeteria. Taeyong sat down next to Johnny, obviously. Doyoung sat down next to Kun, leaving the chair next to him as the only empty space. No one really questioned his presence, so he got engrossed in Taeil’s lab stories. They were still talking about Taeil’s lab partner, Hansol, when Yuta appeared in the chair next to Doyoung out of nowhere. 

“Great to see you, Doyoung.” Yuta smiled. He was in a way too good mood, which promised nothing but evil. He started rummaging through his back and everyone focused their attention on the Japanese boy expectanditely. He got out a stack of paper and placed it in front of Doyoung. “I was reading through your little research and found a tremendous amount of spelling and grammar mistakes.” Yuta smiled slyly. Doyoung shuffled the papers and was met with many highlighted sentences and red circles. He cursed under his breath. 

“You got corrected by someone who hasn’t even lived in South-Korea for a year.” Ten laughed. Doyoung was filled with the intense need to pull the smaller boy’s mint hair.

“I have been speaking Korean since I was like five.” Yuta deadpanned. “Doyoung still sucks though.”

“Shut up. It was too early in the morning when I wrote that.” Doyoung grumbled.

“Aw, babe. You woke up early for me?” Yuta teased. Doyoung kept his eyes trained on the stack of papers in front of him, hoping no one would notice the blush that was blooming on his cheeks currently. He felt Johnny nudge his leg underneath the table and knew he had failed. 

“Uh, no I just didn’t sleep well and woke up early.” Doyoung felt a bit uncomfortable with everyone’s attention on him. Kun seemed to notice and engaged a conversation with Taeyong and Johnny. Doyoung made a mental note to thank him later.

“Dreamt of me?” Yuta smirked. 

“Sadly yes, it was the worst nightmare I’ve ever had.” 

“Ah too bad. Next time I’ll look better so you can dream of me more often.” Doyoung smelled a challenge. 

“Hmm, I bet I can look even better.” Doyoung tried.

“Game on!” Yuta narrowed his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. 

“Sunday, when we meet up for the assignment.” 

“It’s a date.” That made everyone stop conversation. 

“You wish.” Doyoung shot back. They kept ‘glaring’ at each other until Ten broke the silence.

“What is happening?” Ten laughed awkwardly. 

“Shh, just listen and look. Young love is blossoming.” Taeil pulled Ten close and put a finger to his lips to shush him. 

“Taeil, that’s gross.” Doyoung whined. Yuta only laughed. 

 

Sunday morning Doyoung was almost late again. He had stayed up too late on saturday to write an outline for their essay, making sure to make no mistakes this time and woke up late. However, he still hadn’t gotten enough sleep. He also put more effort in his outfit and hair than he’d like to admit. He was wearing light wash jeans, a long sleeved vertical striped baby blue, olive green and black shirt and round specs. His hair was gelled back, revealing his forehead and he even used the makeup Taeyong had forced him to buy once. Yuta was seated in the same spot as earlier that week and Doyoung stopped walking when he spotted him. Doyoung would never say it aloud, but he looked good, incredible even. Yuta was wearing black skinny jeans, a loose fitting silky white and burgundy striped button down which revealed his collarbones, a long thin green coat hung loosely around his shoulders and a simple silver chain rested around his neck. His brown hair was down but slightly parted and his eyes were rounded with dark eyeliner. He even had a bit of shimmery brown eyeshadow on his eyelids, making his eye colour pop out. Doyoung quickly made his way over to the seat across of him before Yuta could catch him staring. He sat down in front of the Japanese boy and felt a little breathless. 

“Good morning.” He mumbled as he started to rummage through his bag immediately. 

“So, you do know how to get on time.” Yuta said looking at his watch. Doyoung met his eyes over the edge of the table, as he was still looking in his bag.

“I see you were early. Eager to see me?” Doyoung narrowed his eyes at him, like he usually does. He finally found what he was looking for and put a folder of papers in front of him. 

“Never.” Only now did Doyoung notice the stack of books in front of Yuta. “I just got some books regarding our subject from the library, but it didn’t take me as long as I thought it would so I just came here after.” He mumbled. Before Doyoung could respond, the barista from earlier that week came up to their table.

“Would you like some coffee? Or tea?” He asked, a genuine smile painted on his face. Yuta and Doyoung ordered their prefered cup of coffee. The barista noted it down and walked back to the counter, but not before winking at Doyoung. The latter sputtered something unintelligibly, he didn’t know how to react to that. 

“Oh my god, what kind of dumb response what that.” Yuta clacked his tongue. 

“Pretty boys make me nervous, okay.” Doyoung muttered.

“Is that why your face gets all flushed when I call you baby or sweetie.” Yuta teased. 

“N-no. That’s my angry face, it makes me angry. This is very different.” 

“Hmm, sure. You should ask for pretty boy’s number, he is clearly into to you.” Yuta cocked his head to the side. Doyoung couldn’t read the emotion on his face and to his surprise, he said no. 

“Speaking of numbers.” Doyoung began. “How did you get mine? I don’t remember ever exchanging numbers with you.” Now it was Yuta’s turn to be flustered. 

“Taeyong send me it months ago. He said I was going to need it in the future.” 

“Of course he did.” He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair in mild frustration. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yuta asked, confusion clear in his face. 

“Doesn’t matter. We have more important matters to attend to.” Doyoung got the papers out of his folder and handed them to Yuta. “I made a sort of outline for our essay and started on some things.” Yuta nodded as he scanned the papers quickly.

“Look at you go, only one mistake this time.” The Japanese male said as he got a red pen from his bag and underlined a word and made a little note beside it. “Guess you have to thank me for that.”

“I don’t have to thank anyone, I’m more focused when it’s not morning.” Doyoung rolled his eyes as he snatched his papers from Yuta’s hand.

“Anyways, your handwriting sucks.” The brunette said as he opened one of the books he brought with him.

“Like yours is any better.” Doyoung huffed. Before Yuta could fight back, the barista appeared next to their table. Doyoung had an idea. “Can I ask you something?” He asked the barista as he put down their ordered cups of coffee.

“Of course.” The barista, whose name he had remembered as Jungwoo, answered hopefully. 

“Whose handwriting is better?” Doyoung asked seriously. “Mine?” He gestured to the whole page. “Or his?” He pointed at Yuta’s little note next to his grammar mistake. 

“W-what?” Jungwoo stuttered as Yuta smacked himself against the forehead and groaned. “Uhm, yours I guess.” Doyoung thanked him and the barista excused himself before heading back to the counter.

“You are an idiot.” Yuta sighed. “Let’s just get started.” They stayed at the cafe until both had finished two cups of coffee, bickering back and forth. They had worked on the outline a bit more and had started an index with chapters. Yuta had done most of the work, since he had actually brought his laptop along. Doyoung made a mental note to finish at least two chapters before their next meet up to make up for it. 

“We should stop here.” Doyoung declared, he had enough of the cafe. It was really cute, but it had gotten noisier the closer they got to lunchtime. Sadly the lack of sleep he was carrying had turned into a headache and a drowsiness that made Doyoung incapable of thinking about school. He yawned as he stuffed his folder with papers into his bag without care.  
“Why are you so tired? Wild saturday night?” Yuta wiggled his eyebrows.

“No I stayed up late to work on the essay.” Something shifted in the other’s brown eyes. 

“Doyoung we have plenty of time to work on this assignment, don’t give up your sleep for that.” Yuta almost sounded worried. 

“Why would you care?” Doyoung asked. He felt kind of weird. It might have been the fatigue, but Doyoung felt like their conversations had gotten softer since they’ve been working together. They still bickered and challenged each other with the silliest things, like who can run up two flights of stairs the fastest, but their intentions felt less malicious. 

“I don’t, I just don’t want you to fuck up our essay because you’re too tired to focus.” Yuta said a little bit too quickly. They got out of the cafe and went their separate ways. Both couldn’t help but feel like things had changed. 

It was hours later after Doyoung had arrived at his apartment, when someone knocked on the door. He opened the door and was met with a head of fluffy pink hair.

“Taeyong?” Doyoung asked confused. He couldn’t remember if he was supposed to meet up with the older boy.

“Can I stay at your place for a few hours? Hyuck’s friends are over and they’re really loud. Also the oldest, Renjun, kinda scares me.” Taeyong said sheepishly. Doyoung let him in and the both took place on the couch in the small living room. 

“So, how was your date?” Taeyong teased, because that was his only job aparentaly. 

“It wasn’t a date.” Doyoung groaned, he knew this was coming.

“You say that, but you went all out.” Taeyong laughed as he scanned Doyoung’s appearance. 

“I just wanted to proof I could look better than him. He challenged me.” Doyoung realised how ridiculous it sounded once he said it aloud. He grabbed the pillow next to him on the couch and hugged it to his chest. 

“Well, who won?” 

“We didn’t talk about it.” Doyoung realised.

“Oh.” Taeyong had an unreadable look in his eyes.

“It’s for the better. Otherwise we would’ve spend half an hour bickering again.” Doyoung pursed his lips. He looked away focusing on the stack of movies on the coffee table instead as he felt Taeyong’s gaze on his face.  
“You thought he looked better?” Taeyong asked. He could read Doyoung like an open book.

“Of course he looked better.” Doyoung buried his face in the pillow. A knot formed in his stomach and he couldn’t understand why. He almost felt sad. 

“If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t.” Taeyong said sympathetically. 

“I think I have to.” Doyoung took a deep breath before he continued. “Something’s different.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Our fights and bickering are less aggressive I guess. Yuta doesn’t annoy me that much anymore.” Doyoung lifted his face from the pillow and looked at Taeyong. The other had a soft expression in his eyes and a small smile on his face.

“Doyoung they were never aggressive or harmful in any way.” Doyoung looked at the pink haired boy confused. “Yuta told me he actually enjoys your company.”

“But- What? I don’t understand.” 

“He is a very competitive person, he can also be really petty. Just like you. But there were never any bad intentions behind any of his actions.” Taeyong crossed his legs on the couch and turned towards Doyoung, so it was easier to face him.

“He literally called my face stupid, he said he doesn’t trust me. What about all the insults he has thrown at me in the past?!” Doyoung raised his voice in a sudden panic, although he didn’t know where it came from. 

“Doyoung you’re so dense. Those insult were all in a playful manner. And I really don’t want to be harsh on you, but you never gave him a chance to act any differently.” Doyoung’s head shot up, he looked at Taeyong with bewilderment visible in his eyes. “You only ever act in an aggressive way around him. It’s not necessarily in a negative way, but everytime he walks into the room you put on your mean face. I’m not trying to blame you, but you started this.” Even though Doyoung knew he was right it didn’t make him feel better in any way. 

“Keep talking.”

“Have you ever tried acting like a normal person around him? Have you ever tried being nice to him? Don’t you understand that he’s acting the same way you are.” Taeyong started making big gestures with his hands, hoping that would help him explain everything. It only made Doyoung feel dizzy.

“But why do I need to act differently? Why doesn’t he just try to not challenge me everytime we meet?” Doyoung only got more confused.

“Because it’s the only way you will pay attention to him!”  
“I’m so confused.” Doyoung said so softly, the other almost didn’t hear him. Taeyong put a hand on Doyoung’s knee and gave it a soft squeeze.

“Yuta is a nice guy. Yes he loves challenges and getting under people’s skin in playful ways, but he really is a great person. You just never gave him a change to show you his other sides and I guess that’s on him too.” Doyoung stayed quiet, he didn’t know what to say. “I have witnessed plenty of your interactions in the last six months and I think I’m good enough at reading people to have figured something out.”

“Go ahead.” He might as well let Taeyong throw everything at him at once.

“I know you enjoy the little squabbles you and Yuta have. He doesn’t mind them at all too. But it’s all there is between the both of you. If there are no more challenges, if you don’t bicker there is nothing. And I have a feeling you don’t want there to be nothing.” Taeyong chose his words carefully, they still had enough impact. If Doyoung really thought about it, he didn’t want Yuta to leave him alone. He would miss their bickering if it ever disappeared. It never had a negative impact on his life.

“M-maybe.” 

“You know you can be friends and still challenge each other. You can be friendly and still bicker like an old married couple like you always do. You just have to get to know each other better.” Taeyong started to ramble a bit, but Doyoung figured it was better to let him. “Your competitive attitudes could compliment each other so well.” 

“You think so?” Maybe he should listen to his friends more.

“Yes! I believe you two can bring out the best in each other. Especially if you change your ways to do good instead of bad.” Taeyong smiled. Doyoung tilted his head sideways in a questioning manner. “Remember when he made you spill your lab assignment. Your dilutions were not correct you told me yourself, so you got a second chance to get a correct result. You helped him realise he was lacking in a subject by sabotaging his preparations. These things have happened multiple times. You have a more positive influence on each other than a negative one. You just have to pay a little more attention to see it.” Taeyong finished. Doyoung had a lot to think about, but he couldn’t help but realise Taeyong was right.

“Maybe you have a point.” Doyoung muttered. At that Taeyong laughed. He dropped his legs from the couch and scooted closer to Doyoung. 

“Just give him a change. Try to be friendly for once. You two could be such a powerful duo.” Taeyong ran his hand through Doyoung’s black hair in a soothing manner, Doyoung leaned into the touch. 

“I’ll try.” Doyoung decided.

“Great. Now let’s watch a movie. You need distraction, you’re panicking for no reason.” Only now did Doyoung notice that his breath had quickened a little too much for his liking.

“Thank you.” Doyoung said and he meant it. Taeyong might tease him a lot, but he would always try his best to comfort the younger without a doubt. He decided to ignore his troubling and confused thoughts for a while.

 

Only later in the evening after Taeyong had left and Doyoung had crawled underneath the covers did his troubling thoughts resurface. He thought about the advice Taeyong had given him and decided that it wouldn’t hurt anyone to try it out. He grabbed his phone from his bedside table and opened the chat app. 

Doyoung:  
You won today

Doyoung closed his phone immediately. For some reason he felt nervous. After what felt like ages his phone vibrated.

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Kim Doyoung admitting defeat  
That’s a first

Of course. Doyoung thought back to everything Taeyong had said. He should give the other a chance. 

 

Doyoung:  
Well yeah don’t get used to it too much

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
I’m just messing with you  
Thank you I mean it  
You looked great tho  
I was actually about to message you to say you won…

Doyoung’s breath hitched in his throat. He did not expect that at all. 

Doyoung:  
Since we’re being honest and all  
You’re less annoying than I thought you would be  
During this assignment

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Are you saying that you actually enjoy my company in a way?

Doyoung:  
That is not what I said at all  
But yeah I guess

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
You’re not too bad yourself  
Anyways should we meet up at the cafe again on friday?

Doyoung:  
I’m a student I don’t have enough money to go to cafes that much  
What about my apartment?

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Sure! That works too  
I’ll meet you after our genetics class

Doyoung:  
Sounds good

Nakanightmare Yuta:  
Well I’m gonna hit the hay  
Sleep well Doyoung 

Doyoung:  
Goodnight Yuta

/Doyoung changed Nakanightmare’s contact name to ‘Yuta’/

It was a start.

\---

In the days running up to their next meeting, they didn’t interact much. The only interaction they had was when Yuta smiled at Doyoung in the hallway as a form of greeting. They usually got into one of their squabbles every school day, or at least every time they to go to college on the same day. So after five days of seeing Yuta in the hallways, college rooms and cafetaria without the usual challenges or bickering Doyoung started to miss it. It actually brought much more excitement to his college experience than he would like to admit. Maybe he should really befriend him. 

When the end of the school day on Friday arrived, Doyoung was actually quite excited. He told himself it was just because he was proud of the first two chapters of their essay he had finished. After their shared genetics class ended Doyoung bid his friends farewell and waited at the door for the other. 

“You ready?” Doyoung asked him as Yuta approached him.  
“Yes, let’s go. How do we get to your place?” Yuta asked while throwing his backpack over his shoulder. 

“It’s just a couple of blocks away from campus so we’ll walk.” Doyoung explained as the made their way down the hallway. They walked in silence for a bit and to Doyoung’s surprise it wasn’t weird or awkward at all. Just as Doyoung wanted to start a conversation, the sky decided to pour rain out of the clouds. 

“Shit.” Yuta cursed under his breath. Doyoung noticed that other’s jacket didn’t have a hood unlike his own.

“Follow me.” He said before he took off. His apartment was close, so if they ran they could prevent catching a cold. Doyoung looked back once to see that Yuta was running right behind him, before quickening his steps as the rain started to pour with more fervor. 

Even if they ran and made it out of the ran within a couple of minutes, the two were completely soaked. Doyoung rushed to open the door. Once inside Doyoung went to the bathroom without a word, leaving Yuta alone to wander around. He came back after a minute or so with two towels and two sets of dry clothing. 

“Come with me.” Doyoung led Yuta to the kitchen, which had drying rack for laundry next to the refrigerator. 

“Thank you.” Yuta said softly as he took one of the towels Doyoung offered him. Doyoung turned around and shrugged his jacket from his shoulders and hung it on the drying rack. He took of his soaked shirt before drying his upper body, face and hair. He had just put on a dry long sleeved shirt when Yuta spoke up. 

“Doyoung?” He turned around and was met with the other’s bare chest. He didn’t have a lot of time to look though, because as soon as he registered what he saw a wet piece of fabric was thrown in his face. Doyoung just dry face got covered in rain droplets again. He shrieked as the Japanese boy laughed. He took the fabric of his face and noticed that it was Yuta’s shirt, without hesitation he threw it back. Sadly it missed Yuta’s face and smacked into his stomach instead.

“This is war.” Yuta tried to say seriously, but the wide smile on his face revealed his true intentions. He made it to Doyoung in two big strides and wringed his soaked shirt out over Doyoung’s head while laughing his ass off. Doyoung gasped in surprise. 

“That was a mistake, Nakamoto.” Doyoung threatened. He knew he was going to regret his following action, because it would take ages to clean it up. But he didn’t care. He grabbed Yuta’s wrist and dragged him over to the sink. The sink had an extendable crane, Doyoung turned the faucet on and yanked it out. He aimed at Yuta’s face and let go of his wrist as he continued to blast water all over him. Yuta shrieked and tried to run away. He almost succeeded, but slipped in a puddle on the floor. He took the chance to drag Doyoung with him to the floor as the latter turned the faucet off.  
“You ass!” Yuta laughed after he hit the floor. He grunted when Doyoung’s body collided half with his. He quickly pushed the black haired male off of him as he wouldn’t stop shaking with laughter. 

“You deserved that.” Doyoung said in between little fits of giggles. They laid next to each other on the floor in silence for a moment. The peaceful silence was short lived though. Yuta’s sneeze filled the quiet apartment and almost made Doyoung scream in shock. The two broke into another fit of laughter.

“I guess we have to clean this mess up.” Yuta sighed after they stopped laughing again.

“Yes and you’re helping me.” They dried the floor planks and cabinets that had gotten wet with dishcloths. It took longer than it should have. They kept messing around, pushing each other around through the kitchen and continuing to flick water on each other occasionally. 

“Maybe we should actually change into dry clothes before you really catch a cold.” Doyoung said after they were done wiping the kitchen. He pretended to not notice that the other was still shirtless. 

“Sounds good.” Yuta answered as he grabbed his towel again which he had left on the kitchen counter earlier. “Ugh my hair is completely soaked.” He groaned.

“Let me.” Doyoung smirked. He snatched the towel from Yuta’s hands and put it on the latter’s head. He started to ruffle the towel over Yuta’s hair aggressively. Yuta let him. After Doyoung was satisfied he let the other check his appearance in the reflection of the microwave. His hair was sticking up in random places, it looked like a bird had tried to make a nest in it. 

“Oh my god. I look amazing. Let me pay you back.” Doyoung tried to get away, but Yuta cornered him against the counter. He grabbed the other towel and started to ruffle Doyoung’s hair, trying to create the same mess that was on his own head. Doyoung shrieked and pushed the towel he used earlier into Yuta’s face. Yuta didn’t stop and just laughed when Doyoung slid the towel back over his hair. They had a small game of who could mess up the other’s the most before their eyes met and the stopped dead in their tracks. Without noticing they had gotten a lot closer, their noses almost touching. Doyoung took the time to study the other’s face. The corners of his warm brown eyes were turned upwards controlled by the slightly shorter boy’s smile. Doyoung’s gaze slid down the slope of his nose to the soft curve of Yuta’s cupid bow. Doyoung forced himself to avert his gaze back to Yuta’s eyes before it completely reached his lips. The edge of the counter was digging in Doyoung’s back, but he barely noticed it. The only things he could focus on were Yuta’s hands on the back of his head and the side of his face and his fierce gaze. It took Doyoung a moment to get back to his senses. 

“We should get changed.” Doyoung said softly as he prayed that the other couldn’t hear his heart hammer against his chest. 

“You’re right.” Yuta answered just as softly, his voice barely above a whisper. It took him a couple of seconds before he moved away from Doyoung. Doyoung stood frozen for a moment wondering what just happened and why his stomach was acting the way it did. 

After they both had changed into dry clothing they went back into the living room. They still had an essay to work on. They went over the chapters Doyoung had written and made sure it was free of any errors. They also went through the extra information sources Yuta had gathered. They even wrote a third chapter together successfully. Doyoung had toned down the aggressiveness in his words and action and Yuta went along with it. They even made some small talk. Doyoung had gotten to know more about the Japanese boy in the past few hours working on their assignment than in the months they had tried to annoy each other every single second. 

“You can borrow my clothes, I’ll wash your clothes and bring them to school next time we have class together.” Doyoung said as Yuta was looking at his still wet clothing after he had packed his bag. 

“Thanks, I owe you one.” Yuta smiled. Doyoung tried to ignore that the sleeves of the sweater he had borrowed Yuta fell slightly over his hands. Doyoung was a bit taller, so his clothes were a little big on Yuta.

“Don’t worry about it, just text me when you get home. It’s storming pretty hard out there.” Doyoung said sheepishly as he stared out of the kitchen window. After the rain had stopped a strong wind started to yank at the treetops and Doyoung couldn’t help but worry. He blamed Taeyong for the parental instinct he had picked up over the years during their friendship. After Yuta had left, Doyoung started on dinner. He had just thrown a packet of ramen into boiling water when his phone vibrated. He unlocked his phone as he stirred in the pot on the stove mindlessly. 

Yuta:  
I’m home honey ;)

Doyoung chuckled. He knew Yuta only said those things to get a reaction out of him, but the pet names didn’t face him that much anymore. 

Doyoung:  
Good! 

Yuta:  
I had fun today

Doyoung:  
Me too

Yuta:  
I’ll see you at school !!

Doyoung:  
See you!

Doyoung thought back on how their time together had gone. He had to admit he actually enjoyed to spend time with him, they laughed a lot together. Suddenly this weird grudge he held against him felt even more silly. He had barely challenged Yuta today and the latter went along with him without a single objection or problem. He really should’ve given the boy a change to reveal his personality to him more earlier. Doyoung should’ve shown more of himself earlier. Maybe they could get there now. Doyoung finished making his dinner and put everything in a bowl before heading to his living room. He ate while watching the news like the responsible adult he is. He shoved his last bite of food into his mouth when he came to the conclusion that Taeyong was absolutely fucking right. He quickly swallowed his last bit of dinner and reached for his phone again. 

Doyoung:  
You were right

 

To Doyoung’s surprise, Taeyong kept fairly quiet about being right. Usually when either of the two admitted the other was right they would scream it from the rooftops. But Taeyong had only brought it up once when they were in private. He only asked what had happened that made Doyoung change his mind and Doyoung appreciated that a lot. He took this very seriously and he was afraid that his friends would try to turn it into a joke. He regretted not opening up to Yuta earlier and was almost ashamed of the way he had acted towards him. Taeyong told him to stop thinking like that and to just enjoy what was going to come out of it. Taeyong also told him that he shouldn’t feel ashamed as the way Doyoung acted was never harmful and had brought fun and excitement in both boys’ lives. Of course Yuta and Doyoung had been annoyed with each other but that was nothing more than natural, however the change in their relationship was well appreciated and welcomed on both sides. 

“You’re going to agree with me, just watch.” Yuta smiled as he put the dvd in the dvd player. They were set on Yuta’s couch a couple of weeks after that one event in Doyoung’s kitchen. Their school work was scattered on the coffee table and was about to be long forgotten. They had worked on their essay for about 35 minutes before Doyoung noticed a stack of dvds next to the couch and made a comment about Yuta’s high school musical collection. They proceeded to have a heated discussion about which movie was the best. Doyoung thought the first one was the best because of its soundtrack, but Yuta had pushed on about how the second one had ‘outsold’. Although Doyoung didn’t understand what he meant with that. Yuta had demanded that they watched the second movie, so both boys decided to abandon their school work. The movie started, but Doyoung zoned out immediately. He thought about the past few weeks and everything that had changed. Yuta and Doyoung barely challenged each other anymore, their competitions had formed into playful discussions. Moments that usually would be filled with glaring and who could kick the other underneath the table the most without getting caught, were now filled with playful back and forths about what Girls’ Generation’s best title track might be. Doyoung claimed it was Oh! while Yuta stood by The Boys. Ten had butted in with Into The New World and even Taeyong joined with Mr.Mr. While on the topic of music, Doyoung had also learned that Yuta liked a Japanese band named One Ok Rock. Later he also found out Yuta used to live in Osaka and that he missed his parents terribly and so much other little facts and opinions. Doyoung believed they could be considered friends now and surprisingly the thought brought a smile to his face. 

“What are you smiling about? Troy and Chad just got scolded.” Yuta snorted, shaking Doyoung out of his thoughts. 

“Nothing.” Doyoung said, a bit flustered. Yuta hummed absentmindedly. This time Doyoung did focus on the movie. They went through a bit of the movie in silence, only occasionally humming and mouthing the lyrics to the song. Usually Doyoung would screech the lyrics on the top of his lungs, but he didn’t know if him and Yuta were on that level of friendship yet. But then they hit the scene with I don’t dance and Doyoung couldn’t help it.

“Hey, batter, batter, hey, batter, batter, swing.” Doyoung mumbled. Yuta looked at him and narrowed his eyes in a questioning manner.

“I’ve just got to do my thing.” Yuta tried carefully. 

“Hey, batter, batter, hey, batter, batter, swing.” Doyoung continued. They looked each other in the eyes and a silent understanding seemed to pass through them. They got up from the couch at the same time and Yuta pushed the coffee table out of the way quickly. “I’ll show you that it’s one and the same.” Doyoung sang the first half of the first verse a little louder. 

“I wanna play ball now, and that’s all-” Yuta one upped him by belting out the lyrics with tremendous confidence, he even started swinging his hips on the rhythm of the beat. Doyoung should’ve seen it coming, even if they toned down their rivalry it belonged between them. So Doyoung did exactly what he always did, just a little bit more playful.

“You’ll never know.” Doyoung was beaming. He bumped his right hip against Yuta and pushed him a little bit out of the way as his feet started to follow the beat. Yuta fake scoffed and pushed right back. Doyoung lost his balance and almost slammed into the floor, but Yuta grabbed his forearm to stabilize him. This seemed to stir and idea in the latter and Doyoung could only sigh as a smirk formed on Yuta’s face. 

Yuta pulled Doyoung closer and put his other hand on the latter’s hip at the same moment as he sang. “I don’t dance.” He kept swaying to the beat and Doyoung seemed to get the hint.

“I know you can.” Doyoung pulled his wrist free from Yuta’s hold and interlaced their fingers as his other hand rested on Yuta’s shoulder. Doyoung took a step closer and the two fought a bit for dominance, eventually Yuta led their dance. This wasn’t the best song to dance like that on, but they made it work by actively twirling around each other. Laughter and surprisingly stable singing filling the room. When the song ended both boys fell back on the couch panting. 

“I didn’t know you could dance so well.” Doyoung said a little breathlessly. 

“I didn’t know you could sing so well.” Yuta ran a hand through his dark brown hair, his bangs stuck to his forehead that was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Doyoung studied the other for a bit. Yuta looked breathless, his cheeks a bit rosy, the sweat making his skin shine, his eyes were half closed and Yuta looked at Doyoung through his eyelashes with a hazy gaze. Doyoung quickly spoke up before his mind wandered off to a dangerous place.

“You too. You’re full of surprises.” Doyoung joked, but he found himself genuinely meaning it. 

“I’ll take that compliment!” Yuta smiled that bright smile of his and Doyoung’s gut was filled with feeling he had yet to decipher. His mind started to connect the dots, but Doyoung stopped himself before he could understand. They continued to watch the movie and at the end Doyoung had to agree with Yuta, the second movie was the best. He didn’t even understand why he ever disagreed, even the soundtrack of the second movie was better. Yuta insisted on watching the third movie too and soon they were holding a movie marathon instead of working on their essay. Eventually Doyoung went home, but not before Yuta had assured him that it wasn’t a big deal that they didn’t work on their school project. They were almost done and still had two weeks left. 

In the following weeks Doyoung caught himself staring at Yuta a lot everytime they worked together, even at lunch. He also caught himself thinking about him a lot. It wasn’t on purpose, but sometimes Doyoung would be washing the dishes and suddenly the memory of Yuta’s joyfilled laugh would cross his mind and make that feeling in his gut reappear. Other times he would be focussing on class and his mind would turn to the delicate build of Yuta’s fingers and face. One time he even caught himself staring at Yuta’s lips, wondering how they would feel on his. Doyoung would like to think it was merely physical attraction, but he couldn’t call it that. It was more, but he wouldn’t admit that. He couldn’t. He wasn’t the only one who had noticed his change in behaviour. Taeyong, Johnny and even Taeil had kept quiet and had stopped their teasing. It seemed that Doyoung wasn’t the most subtle person and it scared it him. He didn’t want to ruin this new friendship, a friendship he never imagined but didn’t want to lose ever. So Doyoung did what every pining person would do and pushed his not admitted feelings far away. 

“So, who was the better project partner?” Yuta asked jokingly the night before they had to hand in their essay. 

“Hmm, let me think.” Doyoung faked a frown and tapped his chin thoughtfully. “I think we both did a great job.” 

“I agree. Who would’ve thought we would make such a good team?” Yuta leaned back against the couch. They were situated in Doyoung’s apartment on the floor in front of the coffee table. 

“Well, not me.” Doyoung joined Yuta against the couch. The latter rolled his head towards the side to face Doyoung. “But I’m glad it turned out this way.” Yuta smiled before sitting up abruptly. He turned towards Doyoung to fully face him and crossed his legs. He leaned his chin in is hand, his elbow resting on his knee. 

“Doyoung?” Yuta narrowed his eyes. Doyoung hummed in response as he tried to ignore Yuta’s knee brushing against his. “Did you ever hate me?” For some reason that question didn’t settle well with Doyoung. It felt personal. He closed his eyes and let his head lean back on the couch to think. “Doyoungie~?” Yuta poked his cheek and Doyoung tried not to jolt at sudden contact. He had learned that Yuta was a clingy person, in a good way, and enjoyed skinship a lot. Doyoung definitely didn’t mind it, but he wasn’t used to it. Especially not with someone he used to glare at for breathing too loud. 

“No, I never hated you.” Doyoung sighed and opened his eyes to look at Yuta. “I wanted to and I tried, but I couldn’t hate you.” 

“I’m glad, I never hated you either.” He said softly. 

“You did annoy me multiple times.” Doyoung said lightly. 

“Victory!” Yuta cheered, a smile still visible on his face. 

“Nice try, but you don’t have that kind of effect on me anymore.” Doyoung snorted. 

“Too bad, but you still get flustered when I call you baby.” Yuta smirked and leaned in a bit. 

“S-stop.” Doyoung whined as he pushed Yuta’s face away. He quickly tried to cover up the blush that was spreading on his cheeks, but it was too late. 

“Aw, you’re blushing.” Yuta laughed as he poked Doyoung’s cheek again.

“I lied, I do hate you.” Doyoung huffed as he blindly reached for one of the pillows on the couch behind him. Once he got a hold on one of them he swung it sidewards and smacked it against Yuta’s abdomen. Yuta let out an ‘oof’ before jumping up.

“Hey!” He screeched. “You’re dead.” Yuta muttered in fake seriousness before grabbing another pillow and flinging it in Doyoung’s face. Okay, maybe they would never get rid of the competitiveness between them, but that wasn’t bad. It made them, them. The apartment was filled with laughter once again. Doyoung was happy and for the first time in weeks he allowed the repressed feeling to flow a little. 

\---

“Ah, Doyoung. Good to see you here.” Miss Choi said when Doyoung ran into her after school. It had been a week since Yuta and him had handed in their essay. They were both very satisfied with the end result and were expecting a good grade. 

“Good afternoon, miss Choi.” Doyoung greeted her as she started to rummage through her bag. Doyoung waved goodbye to Jihoon, his labpartner whenever Sooyoung was absent, who he was talking before he ran into his teacher. Miss Choi let out a small sound of victory when she found what she was looking for and handed a folder to Doyoung.

“Your grade.” She smiled. “You know, I don’t remember writing you and mr Nakamoto down as partners but I must say it was a good choice.” At that Doyoung frowned, that sounded a bit suspicious. But his worry was quickly replaced with happiness when he saw their grade. 

“O-oh my god, thank you miss.” Doyoung stammered. He had expected a good grade, but this was amazing. 

“I was very impressed by you work. I would like to present your essay to other classes.” She smiled when Doyoung nodded excitedly. He quickly bid her farewell and rushed down the college halls. He had to tell Yuta about this. He remembered that the other boy had gone home earlier, since his classes were done earlier. Doyoung made his way off campus fairly quickly and then started to run towards Yuta’s apartment. Luckily the apartment complex the other lived in was nearby and Doyoung reached it without too much trouble. Although he had almost bumped into multiple bypassers. When he reached Yuta’s front door, he was violently panting. Doyoung coughed before taking a couple of deep breaths and trying to compose himself. He knocked on the door and had to calm himself down some more. The door opened and Yuta appeared in view, Doyoung’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Doyoung, what are you doing here?” Yuta looked surprised, but not displeased to see the other boy. Doyoung pushed the folder he was still holding in Yuta’s hands. 

“We got an A!” Doyoung almost yelled. Yuta looked at the first page and gasped. 

“We got an A!” Yuta pulled Doyoung in his arms and the latter temporarily froze. Doyoung felt like someone just knocked the wind out of him. He quickly got a hold of himself and wrapped his arms around Yuta’s waist. Doyoung pressed his face in his neck and let Yuta rock them back and forth. They stayed in each others’ arms a little longer than was necessary. Yuta pulled back first, his eyes shone with happiness. And right there Doyoung lost it. His eyes locked with Yuta’s and every emotion he had tried to repress in the last few weeks poured out and hit Doyoung like crashing wave. Before he could stop himself he pressed his lips on Yuta’s. Now it was Yuta’s time to freeze. Before he could respond in any way Doyoung seemed to notice what he was doing and pulled away quickly. Yuta looked at him with wide eyes and Doyoung wished the ground would swallow him whole. 

“I am so sorry.” Doyoung stammered as he stepped backwards into the gallery. Before Yuta could say anything, Doyoung bolted down the hall. He didn’t dare turn around, not even when Yuta called his name. 

Doyoung didn’t stop running until he reached a bus stop nearby. He got on the first bus that was headed to the other side of town. He needed comfort and advice so he went to the first person he could think of, Taeyong. Doyoung sat down on a suspiciously dirty bus seat and pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes, trying not to cry in public. He was panicking. Doyoung fucked up a new friendship, a friendship he adored so dearly and he was freaking out. He tried to control his breathing at least in public and willed the bus to drive faster. His mind was racing, crossing thoughts of the other boy being disgusted with him and never wanting to talk to him again. He had to suppress a sob. Doyoung kept his face in his hands until the intercom told him he had reached his destination. He had just stepped out of the bus when he realised he had left his backpack in front of Yuta’s door. A feeling of dread filled his gut, he had to go back there now. Doyoung quickly wiped the tears of frustration that had slipped out of his eyes from his cheeks with the back of his hand and made his way to Taeyong’s house. He had to walk for a few minutes and that small moment of fresh air was enough to calm him down at least a bit. His breathing was more controlled and he felt like he could keep himself from crying. Although his composed self fell down the moment he was in front of Taeyong’s door and the latter appeared in view. 

“Doyoung? Are you okay?” Taeyong asked worriedly. Instead of answering Doyoung flung himself in Taeyong’s arms and let out a strangled sob. Taeyong immediately returned the hug and let the other cry in his arms for a second. “Hey, hey. Doyoung, what’s wrong?” He asked as he ran his fingers through Doyoung’s hair. 

“I like him, I like him so much.” Doyoung cried. Taeyong pulled away and gave him a sympathetic look. He didn’t even have to mention a name, Taeyong knew exactly who he was talking about.

“I know, but why are you crying about it?” Taeyong asked as he pulled Doyoung inside and closed the door. Doyoung followed him into the living room and set down on the couch before responding. 

“I’m scared.” He sniffled as he let Taeyong wipe the tears of his cheeks. He heard noises coming from the kitchen and figured they came from Taeyong’s parents preparing for dinner. “I’m sorry if I came barging in on a bad moment.” He mumbled.

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell my parents to wait with dinner for a bit, they’ll understand. Just talk to me.” Taeyong reassured him. “What’s wrong?” 

“I have never admitted this, not even to myself. But I like Yuta, so much.” Doyoung cringed a bit at his own words. Taeyong gestured for him to go on. “I-I have never liked someone this much and it scares me.” Doyoung rambled. 

“But what are you afraid of?” Taeyong asked softly as he gave his shoulder a soft squeeze.

“I don’t know. Rejection, losing a friendship I never knew I was going to adore this much, the person that makes me laugh until I can’t breath and have tears running down my cheeks.” 

“Why would you worry about losing your friendship with him already. Nothing has even happened yet.” Doyoung pursed his lips at Taeyong’s comment and looked away in embarrassment. “Oh my god. Something happened.” Taeyong gasped.  
“I kissed him.” 

“Oh.” Taeyong said softly. “It didn’t go well?” Doyoung shook his head. “I don’t understand. I have seen the way he looks at you.”

“What do you mean the way he looks at me?” Doyoung asked confused.

“He looks at you the same way you look at him. You’re both not very subtle, it is very clear that you like each other.” Taeyong said matter of factly. 

“You think he likes me?” Doyoung asked. Taeyong nodded softly. “But that doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Tell me exactly what happened when you kissed him.” Taeyong ordered. Doyoung quickly explained what had happened only thirty minutes ago, including him running away immediately and forgetting his bag. 

“Doyoung, you’re such a fool.” Taeyong shook his head fondly and flicked Doyoung’s forehead. “You didn’t even give him a chance to respond.” 

“I know, but I just panicked. I wasn’t planning on kissing him, it just happened.” Doyoung sulked. 

“Talk to him.” Taeyong smiled reassuringly. Doyoung shook his head aggressively. “You’re going to have to do it eventually, he still has your bag. Also, I know he enjoys your friendship just as much as you do and he won’t give it up that easily.”

“I know, but just not right now.” Doyoung whined.

“And that’s okay. Take your time to think things over for a while. For now, you’re staying for dinner. I’m sure Donghyuck will be pleased to see you.” 

 

Unfortunately for Doyoung he had only two days to think about his feelings and everything that had happened, because the Japanese boy had shown up in front of his door. He had tried to reach Doyoung on his phone multiple times, but Doyoung had ignored him all weekend. It was just after noon when Doyoung opened the front door and was met with Yuta’s familiar face. He almost threw the door in his face from shock, but then he saw that Yuta had his backpack in his hands. 

“Hi.” Doyoung said awkwardly.

“You left your bag at my place.” Yuta said softly as he handed it to Doyoung.

“Thank you.” Doyoung was about to close the door, but Yuta stuck his foot into the hallway before he could.  
“Wait, Doyoung.” Yuta sounded almost desperate. “Please, talk to me.” Doyoung sighed. This had to happen sooner or later. He held the door open as Yuta walked in. They sat down on the couch in silence and Doyoung was reminded of the first time they were alone in his apartment. The same slight awkwardness hung in the air, only this time they weren’t soaked from the rain. An uncomfortable silence stretched between them for a while before Doyoung broke it.

“I’m sorry.” Doyoung almost whispered, focusing his eyes everywhere but Yuta. 

“For what?” Yuta asked genuinely confused. 

“For wh- Are you kidding me?” Doyoung asked incredulously. “For kissing you.”

“Doyoung, I don’t care that you kissed me. I just want to know why you did it and why you proceeded to ignore me all weekend.” Yuta raised his voice a bit, but he didn’t sound angry or pissed off one bit. Doyoung bit his lip and kept quiet. “Doyoung look at me.” Yuta sighed. He kept his eyes on the coffee table in front of him. Yuta grabbed his chin and forced Doyoung to look at him. “Please, tell me.” He let go of Doyoung’s chin and grabbed ahold of his hand instead. Yuta looked at him with pleading eyes and how could Doyoung say no to those eyes.

“I like you.” Doyoung felt relieved to say that. “No one makes me laugh the way you do. And everytime you smile my way my hearts skips a beat and I like you so much.” Doyoung cringed at all the words that just left his mouth, but they were the truth. “What am I saying, I sound like a teenager with a crush. I guess that’s not far from the truth, I have a big fat crush on you. Actually I don’t think I can call it a simple crush anymore. And I ignored you because you didn’t kiss me back so I was scared.” He admitted shyly. 

“I can’t believe I’m actually blushing because of this. I’m an adult for fucks sake.” Yuta chuckled as he covered his face with his hands, luckily Doyoung still caught a glimpse of his rosy cheeks. “ I didn’t kiss you back because I was shocked. But Doyoung, I like you too, so much.” 

“You do?” Doyoung smiled.

“Yes, I thought I made it pretty clear.” Yuta lowered his hands from his face. “I flirted with you so many times.” Now if Doyoung really thought about it, Yuta did flirt more with him than he had originally noticed. He also complimented him a lot, but Doyoung just thought he was being nice. “I have liked you for a while actually.”

“Really? Since when?” Doyoung asked surprised. 

“Well, I have been attracted to you since the moment I saw you, but I can’t really call that something. But since the moment we started to talk more and got to know each other more I knew I was going to fall for you sooner or later.” Yuta admitted shyly. Doyoung was beaming. 

“We’re both pretty dumb for people who got the best essay grade in our year.” Doyoung laughed. Yuta let out a loud snort. 

“You’re right. You also don’t talk about your emotions much for someone that talks that much.” Yuta retorted. Doyoung was unfaced, these types of conversations were going to stay and he didn’t mind it at all.

“You too!” Doyoung shoved Yuta’s shoulder playfully. 

“So, what do we do now?” Doyoung thought about it for a moment. He had no idea. They liked each other, but wasn’t it kind of weird to just start dating out of nowhere.

“I don’t know, take it slow I guess. We could go on a date.” Doyoung suggested.

“You really made me come all this way to your apartment and have a mushy talk about our feelings, just to not kiss me?” Yuta raised his eyebrow sassily. 

“Come here.” Doyoung laughed. He cupped one of Yuta’s cheeks before connecting their lips in a soft and short peck. 

“I won’t be satisfied with just that.” Yuta smirked and Doyoung yelped in surprise when he got pushed back against the couch. However he did smile into the kiss when Yuta connected their lips again. It felt right.

 

It took exactly one date before Yuta got impatient and asked Doyoung to be his boyfriend, who said yes of course. The news was very well accepted in their now joined friend group and Doyoung was happy. It was almost the end of the year and they were currently barbequing in Taeyong’s backyard with their entire friend group and Taeyong’s family. 

“I got you a drink, babe.” Yuta pressed a glass in Doyoung’s hand and kiss against his cheek. Johnny saw them and send them a fond smile. 

“That reminds me.” Johnny said, gaining the attention from everyone in the garden. They were currently situated on various lawn chairs that were placed in a half circle. “Taeyong and I won the bet.” 

“What bet?” Kun asked curiously. Yuta shot Doyoung a questioning look, but Doyoung didn’t dare look at him. 

“I made a bet with Taeyong and Johnny about when Yuta and Doyoung would start dating and I lost.” Taeil explained quickly. Ten let out a loud laugh and Kun only rolled his eyes. 

“Wait, since when is this bet going on?” Yuta asked, not taking his eyes off of Doyoung.

“Since before you were paired up for that immunology essay.” Taeyong said before taking a sip of his lemonade. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Yuta asked fake offended.

“I joined the bet too and bet that we were never getting together. So when I started to actually like you, I forgot about it I guess.” Doyoung explained sheepishly. Yuta stole one of Doyoung’s potatoes in revenge. “I own Johnny and Taeyong money now, though.”

“That money should be mine, actually.” Everyone turned to Donghyuck, Taeyong’s younger brother, as he walked up to the last empty chair. 

“What are you talking about?” Doyoung asked.

“If it wasn’t for me getting my revenge because you kept refusing my tarot reading you wouldn’t be together right now.” Everyone looked confused at the younger boy and he sighed exasperatedly. “I made my friend Renjun hack your school’s online system and paired you up for that one assignment.”

“WHAT?!”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this. You can find me on twitter, my @ is huangyuta.


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